Fodor's Expert Review African American Museum in Philadelphia

Opened in the Bicentennial year of 1976, this is the first museum of its kind funded and built by a city. The centerpiece is "Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776–1876," an interactive and immersive exhibit that uses technology to tell the stories of pioneers in the freedom movement. The list includes Frances Ellens Watkins Harper, a suffragist and conductor on the Underground Railroad; Thomas Morris Chester, the first black lawyer to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court; and Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, a renowned singer who performed for Queen Victoria. Visiting and rotating exhibitions dive deep into the artistic, cultural, and political contributions of African American women and men. The museum's gift shop stocks one of the city’s widest selections of books on black culture, history, fiction, poetry, and drama, along with textiles, sculpture, jewelry, prints, and tiles.